In the study, Zeng Guofan was still looking at the two maps.
A map of Changsha Fucheng clearly marked the deployment of the Fuxing Army and even the Hunan Army.
Zeng Guofan suddenly felt bad. The Renaissance Army was so clear about the deployment in Changsha City. It was obvious that there were experts around him, and they were at a very high level.
Who could this person be? Even if Zeng Guofan was extremely smart, he couldn't guess it at this time. Most of his subordinates were recruited by him earlier, so how could the details of the Renaissance Army appear?
There is a text written next to this picture, using small regular script, and Peng Yulin's calligraphy is quite good.
This passage illustrates the balance of power between the two sides. The muskets used by the Renaissance Army can fire so fast. In this case, one of them can defeat the six people on their side. The combat power of the musketeers basically relies on firepower.
output.
Also, their artillery fires quickly and can hit far.
If you just look at the description above, you should surrender now, because the power is not on the same line at all, the disparity is too big.
But Zeng Guofan would not make a decision based on a few words from Peng Yulin.
There is also a map of the Great Qing Dynasty, with many places marked in red. Zeng Guofan could tell at a glance that these areas marked in red were areas controlled by the Renaissance Army.
On it, he could see Zuo Jigao leading his army into Sichuan, and Peng Yulin was now in Changsha. There were also two arrows in Shandong, one pointing to the capital, and one pointing to Henan. Anhui also had an arrow pointing to Henan.
Fujian and Jiangxi each have an arrow pointing to Guangdong. There is also an arrow on the sea pointing to Guangzhou, which should refer to the Navy.
The strangest thing is that the north of Heilongjiang and the northeastern part of Mongolia are also painted red. That area is very vast. Could it be that it is also the territory of the Renaissance Army.
There are two arrows from north to south, one pointing to Mongolia and the other pointing outside the pass.
Zeng Guofan is a master of Go. From this picture, Zeng Guofan immediately thought of a chessboard.
Who used the world of Kyushu as a chessboard and all living beings in China as chess pieces to play this chess game?
This was something that only a great master could accomplish. Zeng Guofan admired this man very much. All the gold and silver corners were in this man's hands.
Who will be involved?
Wei Yuan? He is pretty good at learning.
Peng Yulin? He should not have such a vision.
Zuo Jigao? This person can do things well, but he doesn’t have such a big picture view.
Could it be Dong Shuheng, who was a salt merchant? He seems to be too young.
Zeng Guofan naturally knew why Peng Yulin gave him these two pictures. Is this considered recruiting him?
If you want to recruit Zeng Guofan, you can't just rely on words. Even if the court is really in trouble now, Zeng Guofan still has his own pride.
If you want Hunan to surrender, just show your true strength.
Zeng Guofan made up his mind to have a good contest with Peng Yulin outside the city.
After thinking about it, Zeng Guofan felt at ease. He returned to his room and fell asleep after a while.
Early the next morning, Zeng Guofan arrived at the gate tower of Beicheng early.
He wanted to see how Peng Yulin captured the defense line he had deployed.
Yesterday, the Renaissance Army used artillery to blow up the bunker. However, the Hunan Army soldiers could still hide beside the trench. They lined the trench with wooden boards, and people could hide themselves by lying on it.
This can effectively avoid the bombardment of the Renaissance artillery.
But now the Hunan Army can only rely on the rifles in their own hands.
The remaining artillery did not dare to fire at all. Once it fired, it would be immediately retaliated by the Huai Navy's artillery.
Any artillery that fires can only fire one shot before being destroyed.
Now, the Hunan Army can only lie there and wait for the Fuxing Army to attack.
Put them within the range of your own muskets.
Peng Yulin, who was outside the defensive circle, also saw the Hunan Army's plan.
There is nothing better to do, just do it. The Renaissance Army is not afraid of death. When sacrifices are needed, the soldiers are not cowards.
"Infantry attack!"
Immediately, hundreds of soldiers carrying long wooden boards rushed forward, while hundreds more were covering the side.
The two sides were wrestling, but Peng Yulin had not interrupted the general attack. Such a defense line must first open an opening. The people behind would then go up to expand the opening.
The job of speaking does not require many troops.
The first trench of the Hunan Army was an obstacle, and the soldiers hid in the second trench. The soldiers of the Renaissance Army had to withstand their shooting if they wanted to cross the first trench.
The attacking Renaissance Army also knew this, so their formation was very loose. This was a mature skirmish formation that the Renaissance Army had already used.
On the tower, Zeng Guofan was also watching all this with a telescope.
"Sir, how come the formation of this Renaissance Army looks like stragglers?" Liu Rong asked doubtfully. What kind of strong army does this look like?
Yesterday, after Zeng Guoquan came back, they learned the term Fuxing Army. Zeng Guofan no longer called Huaihai Pirates out of respect for his opponents, and everyone also changed their name.
"Don't you think it's hard to get hit like this?" Zeng Guofan has strong learning and thinking abilities.
"But they are like this, can the muskets show their power when shooting?" Liu Rong asked again. The original intention of the line formation was to better utilize the power of the muskets.
"We'll find out later."
The soldiers of the Renaissance Army finally rushed to the front of the trench. At this time, the Hunan Army who was lying a hundred meters away suddenly stood up.
The Fuxing Army knew that the Hunan Army was preparing to launch a volley.
"Get down!" the officer leading the team shouted.
All the Renaissance soldiers lay down on the ground outside the trenches, so as to minimize casualties.
Both sides opened fire almost simultaneously, and the soldiers of the Renaissance Army lay on the ground and opened fire.
The Hunan Army soldiers stood there with half of their bodies exposed and opened fire.
Under their feet were wooden planks. These planks built a passage halfway up the trench.
Behind them is the trench.
The soldiers of the Renaissance Army lay down on the ground and opened fire.
The soldiers of the Hunan Army had finished firing a salvo, and they had to stand there and reload.
At this time, the Renaissance Army lying on the ground was still shooting.
"This, this, they don't even need to load bullets." From Liu Rong's point of view, it seems that these Fuxing Army guns only need to pull something on the side of the gun, and there is no need to load bullets from the muzzle at all.
This alone will make you invincible on the battlefield.
"It's not that they don't want to load bullets, but they have loaded magazines, and some people use what are called fixed-load bullets." Zeng Guofan said and took out a bullet made of brass eggshells.
This bullet is as long as a finger and consists of a bullet, a cartridge case and a primer.
Liu Rong took it, turned it over in her hands, and looked at it again and again.
It's like he's holding a beautiful work of art in his hands.
"This thing is so exquisite. How did they do it? Hey, sir, why do you have it in your hand?" Liu Rong suddenly discovered a problem.
"Yes, this little thing is like a work of art. It turns out that musket bullets can be made so exquisitely. This bullet was brought back by Peng Yulin last night by Lao Jiu." Zeng Guofan said, and then glanced at Liu Rong.
.
Liu Rong continued to raise the telescope to observe. The row of Hunan troops that faced the Renaissance Army was gone. The Renaissance Army took the opportunity to put wooden planks on the trench, forming a passage dozens of meters wide.
The soldiers responsible for covering the area were already firing on both sides.
Liu Rong could see clearly that no more than ten soldiers of the Fuxing Army were killed or injured in this process, while hundreds of soldiers on the Hunan Army side were already dead.
Most of these Hunan soldiers who were shot fell into the ditch and basically died.
On the other hand, the Renaissance Army was prone on the ground and shooting, making it difficult to target.
Is this the result of the weapons gap?
It feels like a group of soldiers with guns are fighting against a group of people with swords, guns, swords and halberds.
Liu Rong thought about it and realized that it only took a stick of incense to break through the first line of defense.
The remaining two lines of defense are basically the same. If the Hunan Army does not have corresponding countermeasures, it will only be a matter of time before the latter two lines of defense are breached.
Unless the city's artillery is used.
"Sir, why don't you let the city's artillery fire today?" Liu Rong asked puzzledly. Zeng Guofan looked a little strange today.
"Because our artillery is completely suppressed by the Renaissance Army. We don't use artillery, and they don't use it either. It seems that we are getting an advantage."
"This...how did the adults know?" Liu Rong hesitated, feeling a little taboo. But finally she asked.
"What Lao Jiu brought back last night. Peng Yulin said that he would break through my three lines of defense today and arrange a meeting with me at the gate. Liu Rong, what do you think?"
Zeng Guofan looked at Liu Rong, wanting to hear his thoughts.
"Peng Yulin wants to talk to adults. He was demonstrating to us yesterday and today to show his strength." Liu Rong said.
"Well, you are right, then do you think they are strong enough to talk to us?" Zeng Guofan asked again.
"Well, my lord, I think this all depends on your thoughts." Liu Rong played a trick and did not dare to answer directly.
He is just a staff member, not an official of the court. He only listens to his master's family. Even if the master's family wants to rebel, he has to follow him. At most, he will quit. Anyway, he has no power to stop it.
"That's it, let's stop fighting. Let all the soldiers outside withdraw." Zeng Guofan had been thinking about how to break the situation just now, but there was no result.
He still had a deep attachment to his hometown. Seeing the soldiers of the Hunan Army under the city dying in vain, Zeng Guofan felt unbearable in his heart.
The Renaissance Army outside the city was consolidating the first line of defense they had just captured. Suddenly, they discovered that the Hunan Army in the two trenches behind them were all running towards the city gate. For a moment, they didn't know how to react.
At this moment, the signal to suspend the attack came from behind.
Peng Yulin was very pleased that Zeng Guofan could make such a decision, which showed that this man was still very rational and cared about the life and death of his soldiers, as well as the life and death of the people.
Today, Peng Yulin agreed with him not to use artillery. In fact, he was worried that the Renaissance Army's artillery shells would fly into the city and cause accidental damage to the people in the city.
In the afternoon of that day, both sides dispatched staff to conduct the first round of contacts and agreed on the location for formal negotiations.
At the same time, the Fuxing Army sent people together with Zeng Guofan's messengers to deliver messages to various places, ordering the garrisons in various places to stand by in place.
This is to prevent the Hunan Army scattered in various places from continuing to support Changsha without knowing it, causing unnecessary conflicts.
March 13th. The weather was sunny, and Yuelu Mountain was already full of greenery. Seventy-eight percent of Hunan culture gathered on Yuelu Mountain. In modern times, there were many talents from Hunan, many of whom were related to Yuelu Academy.
The negotiation between the two parties was agreed here. It seems that both Hunanese have full trust in Yuelu Academy.
Peng Yulin, surrounded by guards, walked along the steps towards the academy, which is indeed one of the four major academies in ancient China.
As he walked, he looked at the scenery on both sides. On the mountainside was the ancient Lushan Temple, known as "the first scenic spot in the Han and Wei dynasties and the first Taoist temple in Hunan", and the Yunlu Taoist Palace on the top of the mountain.
What Peng Yulin loved most was Yuelu Academy, which was the place he had longed for. Unfortunately, because of his poor family, he did not have the conditions to enter the academy.
Unexpectedly, I entered the academy this time because I was negotiating with Zeng Guofan to peacefully take over Hunan.
When we arrived at the academy, the guards from both sides stayed at the door.
Zeng Guofan and Peng Yulin each entered the academy with an assistant.
Everything in the academy has been arranged, and both parties have sent people in to check. After all, trust between each other has not been established yet.
"Master Zeng."
"Commander Peng."
The two of them said a simple hello and then sat on both sides of the long table.
"Master Zeng, I didn't expect that we two Hunanese would come together today to decide the future ownership of Hunan. It seems that there is God's will in the dark." Peng Yulin spoke first.
"Yes, Commander Peng, isn't that the way it should be? We, the people of Hunan, will decide the future destiny of Hunan. Only when the people of Hunan govern Hunan can we truly cherish the people of Hunan."
The key point in Zeng Guofan's words is that Hunan people govern Hunan. He seems to be referring to striving for Hunan's autonomy.
"China has been a whole since ancient times. Hunan people have no problem governing Hunan, but Hunan is also Hunan of China and must accept the management of the Chinese government." Peng Yulin said.
On the first day, the two had disagreements over the issue of Hunan's autonomy, and in the end they could not reach a consensus.
However, since it is a negotiation, it cannot be accomplished overnight.
During this process, Peng Yulin also told Zeng Guofan about the policy of reviving the military government's local management.
In short, under the rule of the Fuxing Army, the burden on the people of Hunan will definitely be lighter than before.
There is also the issue of attitude towards gentry and landlords. Zeng Guofan himself was born a gentry and landlord, so it is impossible for him not to care about this issue.
Huai Haijun's policy towards the gentry and landlords was not to deliberately suppress them, but to treat them equally, protect their legitimate property, and actively guide the gentry and landlords to transfer their assets from land to industrial investment.
Zeng Guofan also agreed with this, mainly because this did not infringe on the interests of the gentry and landlords, but instead gave them a broader space for development.
After three days of negotiations, the two parties finally finalized a negotiation plan acceptable to both parties.
First, the entire province of Hunan peacefully joins the Renaissance Army and abandons all armed resistance.
Second, the Hunan Army in Hunan selected elites and reorganized them into the 19th and 20th Divisions of the Fuxing Army. The Fuxing Army was responsible for properly placing the excess personnel. As his old employer, Zeng Guofan finally had to find a way out for the Hunan Army.
Third, Hunan's government affairs were handed over to the Renaissance Army to form a military government, and local officials were originally evaluated and retained for other purposes. Local defense was handed over to the garrison and militia of the Renaissance Army.
The Hunan Army definitely cannot stay where they are. As for where they will go, the two of them have also discussed it. That is to send the Hunan Army to Sichuan, recover southern Sichuan from the southeast to the northwest, and then join Zuo Jigao of the West Route Army.
control.
Zuo Jigao was also from Xiangjiang, so there was no need to worry that he would treat the children of the Hunan Army harshly.
Fourth, the Fuxing Army will invest in the expansion of Yuelu Academy, convert Yuelu Academy into a government-run academy, and fund the operation of the academy.
Zeng Guofan will serve as the dean of Yuelu Academy. This is the destiny Zeng Guofan has found for himself. As long as he makes this dean stable, no one will be able to touch him casually in the future.
…
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